Independence:
1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech and Slovak Republics)

National holiday:
Slovak Constitution Day, 1 September (1992); Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising, 29 August (1944)

Constitution:
ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president

Legal system:
civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:chief of state:
President Rudolf SCHUSTER (since 15 June 1999)
head of government:
Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30 October 1998)
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections:
president elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 30 May 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); note - following the National Council elections in September 1998, the Constitution was changed to allow direct election of the president; following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president
election results:
Rudolf SCHUSTER won the first direct popular election with 57% of the vote
note:
government coalition - SDK, SDL, SMK, SOP

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court, judges are elected by the National Council; Constitutional Court, judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the parliament

Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Jan CARNOGURSKY]; Coexistence [Miklos DURAY]; Democratic Party or DS [Jan LANGOS]; Democratic Union or DU [Lubomir HARACH]; Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement or MKDH [Bela BUGAR]; Hungarian Civic Party or MOS [Laszlo A. NAGY]; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia or HZDS [Vladimir MECIAR]; Party of Civic Understanding or SOP [Pavol HAMZIK]; Party of Greens in Slovakia or SZS [Ladislav AMBROS]; Party of the Democratic Center or SDS [Ivan MJARTAN]; Party of the Democratic Left or SDL [Jozef MIGAS]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK (includes MKDH, MOS, and Coexistence) [Bela BUGAR]; Slovak Democratic Coalition or SDK (includes KDH, DS, DU, SSDS, SZS) [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Anna MALIKOVA]; Social Democratic Party of Slovakia or SSDS [Jaroslav VOLF]; SMER [Robert FICO]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Association of Employers of Slovakia; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Christian Social Union; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Metal Workers Unions or KOVO and METALURG; Party of Entrepreneurs and Businessmen of Slovakia

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the Slovak cross in a shield centered on the hoist side; the cross is white centered on a background of red and blue